


Instant Cocoa

by cmk418



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-13
Updated: 2008-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:48:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28764318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cmk418/pseuds/cmk418
Summary: Tara and Giles talk about Joyce
Kudos: 1





	Instant Cocoa

Giles was opening cabinets in the Summers’ kitchen when Tara entered.

“Hey,” she whispered.

He jumped. She was quiet as a cat and his nerves were frayed.

“Tara. Is everything all right? Does Buffy need...?”

“She’s fine. Up with Willow and Xander. Dawn’s sleeping. And I think Anya went home.”

“Yes, she did. A while ago.”

“You could go and be with them. Doesn’t seem quite complete up there without you.”

“Perhaps later.” He continued rifling through the cabinets.

“What are you looking for?”

“I don’t know.”

“Would you like some hot chocolate?” She reached past him to open one of the doors. “I know Mrs. Summers keeps it... k-kept it here.”

“Ah, yes, instant cocoa, curer of all the world’s ills.”

Tara retrieved the box and two mugs and began to prepare their drinks. “When I was in grade school, we lived in Minneapolis. During the winter, my mother made hot chocolate for me every day. The kind with the little marshmallows in it. I remember that the first time I met Mrs. Summers, we were having girls’ night over here. I was helping her out in the kitchen and when I smelled the hot chocolate, I started to cry. Mrs. Summers didn’t say anything, just hugged me until I calmed down enough to go out to the others.”

Giles nodded, leaning back against the counter and watching the movements of Tara’s hands as she stirred the powdered mixture.

She looked up at Giles. “Does my talking about her make you uncomfortable?”

“Not at all.”

Tara put the cups in the microwave and set the timer. “After my mother died, she was never mentioned in our house. It seems silly, because everything in the house reminded me of her and it hurt like crazy to think about her, but I really wished that my father and my brother wouldn’t have pretended that she never existed.”

“It doesn’t seem silly at all. You wanted someone else to reflect your grief.”

“Yes.” She covered his hand with her own. “You want to talk about Mrs. Summers, but you don’t want to bring Buffy any pain. You feel you have to be strong for her.”

Giles nodded and Tara continued, “Let me be strong for you.”

“Oh, Tara, I-“

“Tell me,” Tara whispered.

“She was Buffy’s mother,” he stated, wanting to leave it at that.

“That’s who she is to Buffy. Who was Joyce to you?” Tara prompted, tightening her fingers around his hand.

 _Joyce_ , not _Mrs. Summers_. “She was my friend. Strong-willed, passionate, had really awful taste in music. I mean, terrible. She had better taste in art, of course. She had a wild streak in her that I was fortunate to see – once. A delightful laugh. Soft lips.”

He paused, lost in memory of kissing Joyce up against that police car. The microwave beeped, bringing him back to the present.

“She was Buffy’s mother,” he said, straightening up.

Tara handed him a mug of cocoa. They drank in silence, neither feeling the need to say anything more.  



End file.
